Mason, Ohio – The No.7-seeded Kentucky Wesleyan baseball team prevailed 8-6 over No. 2 seed Walsh in their opening game of the Great Midwest Baseball Championship on Wednesday afternoon at Prasco Park.
It's the first G-MAC Tournament-opening win for the Wesleyan baseball program since 2022. That year, the No. 6-seeded Panthers downed No. 3 Trevecca Nazarene to open tournament play.
In the top of the first, Liam Hutson led the game off with a single, Jase Mizell worked a walk, and Reece Davis followed with another single to drive Hutson in and give Wesleyan a 1-0 lead. Walsh starter Brandon Cahill did a strong job limiting the damage from there before Panthers ace Evan Oakley worked around traffic of his own in the bottom half, ultimately posting a zero.
Wesleyan added another run in the top of the second. Logan Molnar walked, Hutson doubled down the right field line, and Mizell lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to push Molnar across home plate.
Walsh wasted no time getting those two runs back, using a double and a two-run home run in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 2-2.
The Panthers loaded the bases in the third but failed to scratch a run across before a sacrifice fly allowed Walsh to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom half.
Wesleyan had a strong response in the fourth. Hutson tripled to begin the frame, his third hit of the day, and Mizell followed with a double off the top of the wall to tie the game 3-3. Davis continued the hot hitting with an RBI double of his own to give the Panthers the lead back at 4-3.
Still with no outs in the inning, Rhett Dysholm and Tate VanHooser both worked walks to load the bases again. After a strikeout, Braden Vinyard came through by reaching on a fielder's choice to drive in Davis and extend the advantage to 5-3.
In the bottom of the fourth, Oakley leaned on his impressive defense to put up a zero. Hutson had a diving catch in center field for the first out and Molnar recorded a nice play at shortstop to close out the frame.
After the Panthers went down in order in the top of the fifth, Walsh plated two in the home half to tie the game once again at 5-5. Ethan Ell came in to close the inning and keep the game tied.
The back-and-forth continued in the sixth, with each team scoring one run to head into the final three innings with the score 6-6. Wesleyan's run came on a Vinyard RBI double that scored VanHooser after the latter reached on an error.
The scoring slowed down a bit from there. Wesleyan was able to take the lead right back, using singles from Molnar and Hutson, an intentional walk to Davis, and a Dysholm sacrifice fly to go up 7-6.
The bullpen was phenomenal the rest of the way. Ell completed 3.0 innings, allowing just the one run in the sixth frame and striking out three, and Jacob Dilday recorded the final out of the eighth inning to keep Wesleyan on top.
The Panthers managed to add an insurance run in the top of the ninth. Molnar singled again, Hutson was hit by a pitch, and Mizell came through with a single of his own to stretch the lead to 8-6.
Dilday remained in for the save opportunity with Walsh attempting to force extras or win in walk-off fashion. After a leadoff walk, Dilday struck out the next three Cavaliers to lock down the victory for the Panthers.
Hutson finished 4-4 with a double and a triple while reaching in all six of his plate appearances. Mizell, Davis, Vinyard, and Molnar each recorded two hits, with the former three notching a double in the contest.
Wesleyan will next battle Ohio Dominican tomorrow, Thursday, May 8, at 10:00 AM at Prasco Park.
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